JMC 1100 1st Edition Lecture 5Media Uses and EffectsExperiments: The Last (Best?) Method for Media EffectsIn the Media WorldI. Detroiter walks 21 miles to worka. Not anymore thanks to GoFundMe.comb. More than 290,000 raisedi. Power of social media created this opportunity for himii. 10,000 + people donated money, average person 20-30 dollarsII. Punch Counta. Society creates Media?i. Held opinions because of strangers?b. Media creates society?i. Is it something reinforced?Last TimeI. Content analysisII. Surveys pollsa. Learn public opinionb. Generalize to big populationsIII. Samplinga. Random vs. non-randomb. Margin of errorTodayI. Experimentsa. Las of the Big 3: (Content Analysis and Surveys)b. Experiments componentsi. Whether we can trust itc. Correlation and causalityi. Understanding the differenceExperimentsII. Method designed to test for cause and effecta. Usually done in closed conditions for accuracyb. Used Variables- something we can observe that may change from person to person/ group to group (ex. Demographics)i. Certain behaviorIII. Plus: Subjects and stimuli in the same locationa. Allows you to see results as they happenThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.IV. Minus: closed conditions are not the real worlda. Few people watch TV in a room with people watching themExperimental DesignsI. Find subjects and assign to random groupsa. Treatment group- group you are studying (subjects)b. Control group- neutral group for perspectivec. GOAL: groups are “equal” regarding types of people (age, race, gender), Why Have a Control Group?II. Purpose: create neutral “regular” group of viewersa. Allows you to compare results and determine effectsi. Ex: want to buy a sludge hammer after watching violenceb. Accounts for bias when people are observed (Hawthorne effect of uncertainty principle) i. Ex: do you act differently when observed?ii. Paved the way for behavioral management c. Group doesn’t watch study content or watches different contentExperimental ExampleI. Study conducted on brain function and violent video gamesd. Playing violent video games alters the brain neurologic, showed less activity in the emotional portion of the brain. e. People with long exposure have physiological change towards aggression and lack of emotion, more of it. Goals of ExperimentsII. Correlationf. Relationship between two (2) variables, BUT no cause and effectIII. Causality: Gold Medal Resulta. Relationship between two variables such that one influences the other (creates it or changes it somehow)Correlation: In practiceI. Terrorism and Snowboardinga. Both could go up in 2015b. Doesn’t mean there is a connectionCausality: In PracticeII. Cats and Brain Damagea. Treating of cat litter and feces, can cause brain damagei. Alters ability to react and think in a timely manner and a certain way, impacts the health of fetal babies.3 Criteria needed for Causality1. Logical association between variablesa. Example: watching sexual content on TV triggers sexual behaviors2. Constant Time Order (one always occurs before the other)a. Teens start watching TV years before they are already sexually active3. All other Variables Ruled Outa. Other reasons teen could be sexually active:i. Parents absent, are they gone a lot?ii. Teens may be lonely; it might have nothing to do with content.iii. Teens could be bored; nothing to do where they are living. How We Know our Experiment WorksIII. It achieves Statistical Significancea. Relationship or difference between variables that did not occur by chanceIV. KEY: Something meaningful is happeninga. Can conclude study results are correctb. Ex. RevengePorn and depression in victimsi. After break up, pictures are shared, costs money to take downii. Women don’t want to leave, scared to go to workiii. Some have attempted suicideExperiments= Valid when…I. Replicationa. Design and methods yield same results over and over againII. Convergencea. Different methods yield similar resultsConclusionI. Experiments are a great way to connect cause and effectII. Correlation does not mean CausationIII. Key: experiments must be statistically